3:23 [Music] Blessing and honor, glory and power be to the ancient of days. 3:38 From every nation, all of creation are before the ancient of days. Blessing and honor. Blessing and honor. Glory and power be to the ancient of days. 3:57 From every nation, all of creation bow before the ancient of days. Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare your glory. Every knee shall bow 4:14 at your throne in worship. You will be exalted, oh God, and your kingdom shall not pass away. Oh ancient of days. Let's sing that again from the top. Blessing and honor, glory and power be 4:37 to the ancient of days. From every nation, all of creation are before the ancient of days. Every tongue in heaven and earth shall 4:55 declare your glory. Every knee shall bow at your throne in worship. You will be exalted, oh God, and your kingdom shall not pass away. Oh ancient of days, your kingdom shall reign over all the 5:20 earth. Sing it to the ancient of days. For none can compare with your matchless word. Sing it to the ancient of days. 5:36 Every tongue in heaven and earth shall declare your glory. Every knee shall bow at your throne. In worship you will be exalted, oh God. And your kingdom shall not pass away. 5:55 Oh ancient of days, [Music] please be seated brothers and sisters. [Music] 6:22 Glory, honor, power belong to you Lord. Blessing praises, wisdom and strength are yours. 6:40 We cry holy Lord. You are holy. Only you will be praised and adore. We cry worthy 7:02 Lord. You are worthy forever and ever. Forever and ever more. Let's sing that again from the top. 7:20 [Music] Glory, honor, power belong to you Lord. Blessing graces, 7:36 wisdom and strength are yours. We cry holy Lord. You are holy. Only you will we praise and adore. 7:56 [Music] We cry worthy Lord. You are worthy [Music] forever and ever. Forever and ever more. 8:13 Forever and ever. Forever and ever. Forever and ever more. [Music] [Music] 8:45 There's no greater name than Jesus. Name of him who came to save us. In that saving name of Jesus, every knee should bow. 9:03 Let everything that is near the ground. Let everything in the world around. Let everything that's high or the sky power Jesus name 9:21 in our minds by faith professing in our hearts by inward blessing on our tongues by words confessing Jesus Christ is Lord. There's no greater name than Jesus. Name 9:46 of him who lives to keep us at the preious name of Jesus every heart should say. Let every thought that we cannot share. 10:03 Let every word sounding in the air. Let every deed be worthy and bear praise to Jesus name. Through our faith that's daily growing 10:21 through our hope that's brightly glowing through our love that's clearly showing. Jesus Christ is Lord through our faith, through our faith that's daily growing 10:39 through our hope that's brightly glowing through our love that's clearly showing Jesus Christ is Lord. Let's sing the next song. Behold a God seated on his throne. 10:59 [Music] Who has held the oceans in his hand. 11:20 Who has numbered every grain of sand. Kings and nations tremble at his voice. All creation 11:37 rises to rejoice. Behold our God seated on his throne. Come let us adore him. 11:55 Behold our king. Nothing can compare. Come let us adore [Music] him. 12:10 [Music] Who has gi to the Lord? 12:29 Who can question any of his words? Who can teach the one who knows all things? Who can fathom 12:45 all his wondrous deeds? Behold our God seated on his throne. Come let us adore him. Behold 13:05 our king. Nothing can compare. Come let us adore him. [Music] 13:30 Who has felt the nails upon his hands, bearing all the guilt of sinful man. God eternal, 13:47 humble to the grave. Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign. Behold our God 14:04 seated on this throne. Come let us adore him. Behold our king. Nothing can compare. Come let us adore 14:23 [Music] him. You will reign forever. You will reign forever. 14:44 You will rain forever. [Music] You will rain forever. [Music] Behold our God 15:02 seated on his throne. Come let us adore him. Behold our king. Nothing can compare. 15:19 Come let us adore him. [Music] 16:04 From everlasting [Music] to everlasting, you are God. [Music] From everlasting to everlasting, 16:23 you are God in holiness. You stand secure through culture shifting sand. Unchanged by all the vanities of man. And as the nations rise and fall, your 16:47 sovereignty remains. You are, you are, you are the one true God. From everlasting 17:07 to everlasting, you are God. From everlasting to everlasting, you are 17:26 God. Faithfulness. Your love extends through times of turbulence, adopting those who call upon your name. And every generation 17:46 joins in songs of grateful praise. You are, you are, you are the one true God. From everlasting 18:08 to everlasting, you are God. From everlasting to everlasting, you are 18:27 God, eternal, immortal, invisible, God, eternal. 18:45 [Music] immortal, [Music] invisible God. [Music] From everlasting to everlasting, 19:04 you are God. From everlasting to everlasting. [Music] You are God. [Music] 19:24 You are God. [Music] [Music] 19:51 Lord, I stand in the midst of a multitude of those from every tribe and tongue. We are your people redeemed by your blood. 20:09 rescued from death by your love. There are no words good enough to thank you. There are no 20:24 words to express my praise. But I will lift up my voice and sing from my heart with all of my strength. Hallelujah. 20:44 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. To the lamb. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. By the blood of Christ we stand. every tongue, every tribe, every people, every land giving glory, giving 21:04 honor, giving praise unto the Lamb of God. Lord, we stand by grace in your presence. [Music] 21:22 Cleansed by the blood of the lamb. We are your children, called by your name. Humbly we bow and we pray. Release your power to work in us and 21:45 through us. Till we are changed to be more like you. Then all the nations will sing your glory reveal and worship you. 22:05 [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. To the lamb. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. By the blood of Christ we stand. Every tongue, every tribe, every 22:24 people, every land. Giving glory, giving honor, giving praise unto the Lamb. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. to the lamb. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 22:42 By the blood of Christ we stand. Every tongue, every tribe, every people, every land. Giving glory, giving honor, giving praise unto the lamb of God. Giving praise, 23:01 giving praise unto the lamb of God. Giving praise, giving praise unto the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, lamb of God. [Music] 23:25 Let's all stand up and sing the last song, brothers and sisters. [Music] Jesus, 23:41 we enthrone you. We proclaim you as king. Standing here in the midst of earth. We raise you up with our praise. 24:06 And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship 24:23 your throne, come Lord Jesus and take your place. We'll sing that again from the top. Jesus, we enthrone you. We proclaim you as king. 24:48 standing up in the midst of all. We raise you up with our praise. And as we worship, 25:05 build your throne. And as we worship, build your throne. And as we worship, build your throne. Come Lord Jesus and 25:23 take your place. [Music] [Music] Let's be in the spirit of prayer. Let's 25:59 bow our heads in prayer. It's a privilege to come in the midst of the Lord as we thank, as we worship, we build a throne more than praise and thanksgiving. Our 26:20 heart should be of worship. Father seeks for the worshippers. Let's have a spirit of worship that we lay down our hearts and minds, our life, 26:39 our everything to him who deserves all rights over our life. Let's cast all our burdens Let's keep our mind and spirit from all 26:58 distractions. Let's quieten our spirits and minds in his presence. Scripture says in Psalm 34, "Oh, magnify 27:24 the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant and 27:47 their faces will never be ashamed. Let us concentrate on him. Look to him. A one who loved us with an everlasting love and was willing to lay down his life and be 28:05 died on Calvary and suffered in hell. took the punishment for us. And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of 28:24 our faith. Let's give him the thanks and praise which he deserves and we owe to him. We praise you, father. We thank you. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you father. Thank you Lord. Our heart is filled with 28:44 joy and praise and gratefulness and thankfulness. Lord you deserve all our praise, our attention, our life. Lord we want to learn to worship you Lord. Yes Lord you deserve all our attention and 29:01 praise and Lord glory. You deserve all the glory. All worship belongs to you. Father, Lord Jesus, Lord, Holy Spirit, thank you. Thank you for being in our midst. Lord, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the scriptures. Thank you for 29:19 godly examples. Thank you for the church. Thank you for the fellowship. Thank you for working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, Lord. Thank you for giving us faith and repentance, Lord. Yes, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. 29:34 We praise you and thank you. Thank you, Father, for your love. And Lord, you set this day for us. Such a joy to know that you are on the throne. You are in full control. All heaven and earth worships you, Lord Jesus. Thank you. Thank you for 29:53 granting this privilege, a salvation for us that we can come together to praise you and thank you and come together to hear your voice, hear what you want to speak to us individually or personally, Lord. Yes, Lord. Man shall not live by bread alone, 30:12 but every word which proceeds out of your mouth. Lord, we want to hear that voice so that our eyes of heart can be open to see our ears may be preappeared to hear what you want to say. Thank you, Father. Anoint your servant, Lord. Give 30:30 words from heaven. Give us liberty to hear and love the truth so as to be saved. Lord, help us not to deceive ourselves. Help us to hear what you want to speak to us. Lord, we pray that you be magnified and glorified. Help us to 30:48 get a better glimpse of you so that we will be a better witness, better disciples, better children of you. Father, we commit ourselves Lord. We thank you. We bless you and we expectantly trusting. We ask you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Please be 31:05 seated. Let's look into a memory verse. Last week we had a command uh we just repeat that and just repeat after me. Romans chapter 15:2 each of us to please 31:30 his neighbor for his good. This week we have a promise from John 12. Please repeat after me. John 12:4. Unless a grain of wheat falls. Into the earth and dies, 31:53 it remains alone. Let's say that again. John 12:4. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, 32:11 it remains alone. Praise the Lord for his promise and uh we pray. It's a privilege to hear God's word. It's good to come with hunger and thirst that we hear his voice and also have an attitude to love the truth so as 32:30 to be saved. The Lord wants to help us and encourage us. Let's come with hunger and thirst and um brother Charles will be sharing the word that's here. Last week we heard 33:04 about knowing God helps us become strong. And in that connection I would like to continue along the same line. Um maybe you could turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 12. 33:23 Book of Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5 onwards. You have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. Nor faint when you are 33:42 reproved by him. For those whom he loves, he disciplines and he scourges everyone whom he receives. Here it says my son. It's the Lord speaking to us. Every one of us, those who are born into 33:59 his family, he says, "My son." And he says, "Do not faint when I discipline you and I discipline only those whom I love. And I scourge 34:17 everyone whom I receive." This is the Lord speaking. He says, "I don't discipline those who are not my children. I discipline only my children and I discipline only those whom I 34:36 love." So even we don't do that. that we don't discipline or scourge someone else's children unless you are a teacher and you have the authority but otherwise we don't do that but the Lord says 34:56 as many as I love I rebuke and I discipline and further down it says it is for discipline that you endure God deals with you as with sons. And for what son is there whom his 35:15 father does not discipline? We have all had our share of discipline from our parents when we were small or even from our teachers in schools and colleges. And it says, "But if you are without 35:33 discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." You see, we don't discipline anybody other than our sons, our children. Furthermore, 35:51 we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live? The purpose of discipline 36:07 is so that we may live and not die. I don't mean physical death. Everybody dies. Here he's speaking about living with the Lord and not die the second death which ends in 36:25 the lake of fire. And further it says, "For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good that we may share his 36:45 holiness." This is the ultimate goal for which with which the Lord disciplines us so that we may share his holiness. The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 37:03 But God chose us in Christ so that we may regain that glory what we lost because of sin, having been forgiven, having been justified by the blood of his son Jesus Christ. All discipline 37:23 verse 11 it says for the moment seems to be not joyful. Nobody smiles and laughs and rejoices when they're being disciplined. Have we ever done that? We all cried when we were being disciplined. And even 37:43 when God disciplines us, takes us through various circumstances and situations, sometimes we don't understand why things are happening the way they are happening. And we we don't like it. Nobody likes sufferings. Nobody likes discipline. 38:02 Nobody likes rebuke and correction. Unless of course the person is humble and broken and takes it for his good. But if he is a rebel, if he's proud, he will not listen to 38:19 that. And you know where they belong? The rebels and the proud and arrogant and the shameless, they belong to somebody else other than our heavenly father. That's his enemy, the devil. And 38:36 all those who refuse discipline are not joyful. And at those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 38:54 It says the discipline that God gives us is always to make us partakers of the divine nature to make us more like Christ. And uh last week we read about some 39:12 godly men like Moses and Job etc. And these men including let's say Joseph and Jacob, Moses, Job, David, Daniel, 39:31 and the prophets and the apostles, you know, they were all pleasing to God and God was happy with them initially. God was happy with all of them. And God called them 39:49 and God wanted to take them to a higher level. Like we heard last week, it is always God's will that he deals with us so that it can go well with us. It can go better with us. 40:07 And uh it's never to you know make us get discouraged and feel downhearted or rejected and finally says I have had enough of you depart from me. God will not do that for his children who 40:26 are willing to come under discipline, under um correction. And the Lord takes us through all this in order that we may partake of the 40:44 divine nature and be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. That is the ultimate goal. As we read in Romans 8:29, he causes all things for our very best in order that we may partake of the 41:02 divine nature and become like his son Jesus Christ our Lord, our elder brother. So that is the reason why God took us uh takes us and took these people also through various difficult circumstances. You know all these people that I 41:20 mentioned, God was happy with them, but God wanted them to become more spiritual, better people and more refined and more useful in the hands of 41:36 God. Take for example Jacob. Jacob was a suppler and even when he was in the womb, the Lord had a purpose for him. He said the older one will serve the younger one. God's eyes were on 41:52 Jacob. Jacob I loved Esau I didn't. The Lord said and God's eyes were on Jacob. But Jacob instead of waiting for God's time, he went ahead of God 42:10 to grab the birthight and he suffered for it for the next 20 years. Isaac, one of the godliest men who lived that day, he blessed his son Jacob and 42:25 sent him to his uncle's house, Lean. And mind you, this man blessed him and blessed him to be fruitful and all that he gave him the best blessing and he 42:41 sent him. Nothing happened. So the godliest man can lay his hands upon you and bless you, brother. Nothing will happen to you. Read this. For 20 years he suffered and 43:00 suffered and suffered and 10 times his salary was changed. It says his father-in-law and he had a education in his father-in-law's house or rather Bible school in his father-in-law's house so to speak. 43:19 God broke him. And even when an angel of the Lord fought with him just before he wanted to see Esau, the Lord allowed him to win. Not that the Lord was weak and he was stronger 43:36 than the angel of God. The Lord allowed him to win. And then it says he broke him. He dislocated his thigh bone so that from then on the rest of his life he could only limp 43:55 and go depending upon his staff and leaning upon his staff he came to a place where later on when God blessed him 20 years later after breaking him 44:15 God blessed him and from That day onwards he became a blessing and then he was even able to bless Pharaoh the ruler the superpower of that time. He was able 44:33 to bless even that greatest man on earth. that came true only after God blessed him and in God's time. And we read about his son Joseph also. Joseph had prophetic dreams when he was in his 44:52 teenage years. But you know what happened? Probably in his foolishness as a young boy, he told his prophetic dreams to his brothers and his parents and they were not so happy. Even Jacob said, "Do you mean to say that your daddy and mommy 45:10 will come and bow before you?" And the brothers got angry with him and from then on they started hating him because Jacob was partial to him. He was giving him special treatment and made a special 45:27 quote for him and that irritated his siblings and they finally did what they did and but Joseph didn't complain. We don't read anything about Joseph being cross 45:42 or anything but the Lord in his own time. We read about him in Psalm 105 how no iron went to his heart. It says and then he learned and then God in his 46:00 own time brought him out and blessed him and made him a blessing so that he became number two person in Egypt. The superpower of that day next only to Pharaoh and Moses. 46:19 Moses also he was he God had a plan for him and he thought he was capable at the age of 40 being trained in Pharaoh's bestademies and uh when he was 40 he killed somebody thinking that the Lord has raised me up 46:38 for this but he went ahead of God's time and God had to break for another 40 years in the wilderness again in his father-in-law's house. And we read about David also. David 46:57 was chosen and anointed king in his teenage years, but he didn't fight and he didn't run ahead of God's time. He always waited for God. Even though his arch enemy Saul was after his blood, 47:17 he was running from cave to cave and he let God deal with him. Even when he was under his power, somebody's uh told him his general told him just give me an opportunity I'll finish him off. He said, "No, nothing 47:36 doing. You cannot raise your hand upon the anointed of the Lord. Nobody will be innocent if you raise your hand upon the anointed of God." And that was in the old covenant. And in the 47:53 new covenant, the Lord says, "If you lift up your tongue upon the anointed of God and do anything rebellious, it will not go well with you. You will not be innocent." It says in the Psalms, "It went badly 48:12 with them because they spoke evil against God's prophets." So nobody who speaks against a genuine servant of God, it will not go well with them according to scripture. 48:31 And David didn't do that. David let the Lord handle it. And the Lord step by step he finished his enemies including Saul. And then it was time for David to be king. And then he ruled. 48:51 And we read about Daniel also. He was one of the noble um from noble stock. He was a prince. And probably other three also um uh 49:09 these other three friends of Shadrach, Meek and Abednego. These friends of David, they were also from the princely line as we read in Daniel. And God took Daniel in his teenage years 49:26 and he also gave him an education in the court of Nebuchadnezzar, one of the wickedest kings of that time and most powerful another superpower that rose after Egypt. 49:42 and he were captured and taken as a captive to Babylon. And there God had to train him and he was trained and he was a wise man and he's a very good example for all the young 50:01 people. He was only in his teens and we read about that in Daniel 1:8 when they were given kings choice food and drink so that they would become 50:18 strong and robust and healthy and also were given the best education of that day. It says David made a decision. Young people, you need to know that in David 50:37 1, in Daniel 1:8, it says David Daniel made up his mind. He made up his mind that he will not defile himself 50:53 with the king's food and drink because it was forbidden for the Jewish people to eat certain things and to drink alcoholic beverages. But David um Daniel I'm sorry David Daniel 51:12 he decided he made a decision early in life before he could enter into king's service and you young people decide for yourself what you want to be as you grow up and because of that one decision that Daniel 51:32 took the Lord was so pleased and blessed him and blessed him in such such a way that he served five kings in that entire time of deportation, exile in Babylon. He served Nebuchadnezzar and his son and 51:50 his grandson Beltzer and Darius and Cyrus. These five kings he served. And these five kings knew what kind of a man he was because of his righteousness, because of his wisdom 52:08 and special grace of God that was upon him. They recognized all of them recognized that and then he was honored and he spent all his life in Babylon. He didn't go back all the 70 52:28 plus years he stayed there and he died. And then we read further about Ezekiel. The Lord called Ezekiel also. And by the way Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries. They lived at the same time both in Babylon. David in Daniel in 52:47 one place and Jeremiah in another place prophesying uh I mean Ezekiel. He was older to Daniel. But you know something about Ezekiel even though both were living at the same time. 53:06 Ezekiel says something about Daniel in Ezekiel chapter 14. Ezekiel chapter 14. You turn with me there for a moment. Ezekiel chapter 14. It says 53:31 in verse 14 and also in verse 20 same thing. This is remind you this is Ezekiel writing about Daniel anger brother living at that time in different part of Babylon. He says, 53:47 "Even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst as I live, declares the Lord, they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness." 54:06 Ezekiel speaks about the righteousness of Daniel who was still alive, a younger brother living in some part of the same country. and verse 14 and verse 20 and also in chapter 28 54:25 Ezekiel speaks about Daniel and about his wisdom and it speaks about how wise was Daniel when it comes to the wisdom the wisest man in scripture here Solomon's name 54:43 doesn't come but Daniel's name comes says you are wise you were wiser Then um Daniel, the Lord says to Lucifer in chapter 28. And these were all men of God, approved 55:01 of God, but still God took them through all these hardships. And then we read about the prophets also. So many prophets, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and major minor prophets, they all went through the furnace of 55:19 fire, they were all put as it were in hot water and none of them liked it at that moment. But like that verse we read after we have been disciplined when we look back over what happened 55:37 then we are thankful that the Lord did it with a purpose to give us a future and a hope. Not to destroy us not to plan calamity for us but to give us a future and a hope. The Lord knows and he says, "I know the plans that I have for 55:56 you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." That is the ultimate goal of God in his dealing with us. He never wants to frustrate our plans 56:15 and make our life miserable. Never, never, never. I've never heard in my life anybody who gave his life to the Lord and said I gave my life to the Lord he messed it up. None can say 56:33 in this world or even when you get there because God's plans are million times better than our plans and all these people feared God and submitted themselves to the discipline 56:52 of the Lord and the Lord brought something best out of them. And in Psalm 66 verse 10 it says Psalm 66 57:06 verse 10 it says Lord you have tried us oh God you have refined us as silver is refined. See when God calls us, we are like 57:22 unrefined gold and silver with all um alloys in it. It's not pure. And you purify silver and gold only by putting it into fire. 57:39 And you put it into fire and you will not burn and burn and burn and burn forever. It'll be destroyed. But there is a time when the smelter, 57:55 the silver smith or goldsmith, he hits heats the metal only up to a certain degree. And the Lord knows how, when, where to 58:12 deliver you. And as we are being put in the furnace of fire, the Lord knows when to stop, switch off the fire. You know the goldsmith, if you ask them, 58:31 when do you know that the gold is pure? He will tell you when I see my face in that. When I see my reflection in the gold or in silver, that's the time I switch off the fire. 58:50 That is the time I know that it is the purest material. You know even in in purification of oil and things like that there there are different types of purification 59:09 that they allow these things substances to go through. One of which is pouring the oil from vessel to vessel. You read about that in Jeremiah chapter 59:27 48. Jeremiah 48. Jeremiah 48 and uh verse 11 59:55 it speaks about the nation Moab. Moab has been at ease since his youth and he has also been undisturbed on his lees less. He's been undisturbed. You know some of 1:00:12 us who are undisturbed and the Lord is not dealing with us anymore and we are like our life is happy golucky kind of thing. That means we need to realize that the Lord has put us on a shelf. Only those who refuse to be disturbed, 1:00:34 the Lord puts them on the shelf and has nothing to do with them. But those who submit themselves to the dealing of Christ and of God, the Lord disturbs them. Like it says, he was undisturbed on his 1:00:53 lease. Neither has he been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore, he retains his flavor, and his aroma has not changed. And if you are one of those kinds 1:01:10 who say, "Lord, leave me alone. I don't want to go through this. Don't disturb me." The Lord says, "Okay." The Lord never forces himself upon us. And only as we yield ourselves into his hands like the five loaves and two fish 1:01:29 were handed over to him, then he broke and he multiplied. So only when we allow ourselves to be broken, given into his hands, to be broken and bless, blessed and broken, then we will be a blessing to others. 1:01:48 Not until then. And if you refuse to be disturbed and refuse to be poured out from vessel to vessel until you know the drugs settle down in various vessels then you 1:02:04 get the purest oil or even in wine making also they use this pouring from vessel to vessel and that is the purest thing that you can you know it says also So in Psalms 25:9, 1:02:24 Psalms 25:9 it says that God leads the humble in what is right. And the humble, he teaches his way. And those who don't want to be taught and 1:02:42 corrected in their Christian life, God doesn't teach them anywhere anymore. He leaves them alone to stand on their drags 1:02:59 and retain their flavor and be as dirty and polluted as they can be because the Lord has nothing to do with them. If they don't want to submit to them in the Lord's hand, the Lord says, "Okay, I will not disturb you. I will 1:03:18 not touch you." But the humble, he teaches his way. Humble are the ones who are willing to go through the fire and the water. We also read in Isaiah 63:9. 1:03:35 Isaiah 63:9. I'm just showing these verses to you, brothers and sisters, so that you will not lose heart when you go through various trials. James says that don't but rather count it all joy. He says 1:03:55 when you encounter various trials, it says in Isaiah 63:9, you know, the Lord is not alone. He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. And when you're going through something, don't think that the Lord has just, 1:04:14 you know, thrown you out in the fire or thrown you out in the water for you to be burnt or to sink or drown. No, it says in verse 9, in all their afflictions, he was afflicted. You know when you are going through 1:04:34 afflictions remember the Lord is with you. He may not be visible to you. You may not sense his presence like Job did. No so many things the Lord took Job 1:04:50 through but Job complained. Initially he was fine. He said God gave God to praise the Lord. And then as afflictions began more and more and he was going through losing health and then it was increasing 1:05:08 more and more and day by day I don't know how long it took he went through so much of you know discouragement and depression and taunts by his so-called friends who came to encourage him comfort him they were rather a pain in the neck to him 1:05:27 than of any help. And the Lord was watching all that. But Job didn't have a clue of it. If only Job knew what was going on behind the scenes, he 1:05:45 would have thankfully submitted to all this. But in any case, he came out successful in all these things. The Lord was pleased with him and blessed him with double portion, 1:06:03 multiplied his wealth and gave him children and made him a greater blessing. So the dealing of God is always with a view to do us good not harm. And 1:06:18 um we also read that God lifts us. He speaks about Israel. I carried you on my wings and I bore you all these 40 days in the wilderness. And they didn't know that 1:06:37 God was working behind the scenes. And many times we don't see the work the Lord is doing in us. But he is always there with us. Always. He is there in the fiery trial of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He is 1:06:56 there in the lion's den of Daniel. He is there in the pit in which Jeremiah was thrown. And he was there in jail with Paul and 1:07:12 other other children of God. And the psalmist says in Psalm 119, "Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction." See, God has given us his word now to us 1:07:31 so that we can be encouraged and strengthened and um take courage and be built up. That's the reason why God, you know, takes us through all this. But in all this, we 1:07:48 need to realize that I am not alone in this. God is with me. God is planning all this. And that verse that we all know, Romans 8:28, God causes all these things to work 1:08:08 for our very best, for those who love him. So if we know this, then we will not complain. We will rather ask God, Lord, what what are you trying to teach me through all this? I'm willing to learn. 1:08:25 I'm not telling you to lower the heat or or I mean lower the water level so that I will not drown in it. But the Lord knows how to take us through fire and through water. 1:08:43 He said that in in Isaiah. He said when you walk through the fire, it will not scorch you. when you go through the waters, it will not overflow you because I am with you to deliver you. The Lord says in Isaiah 43 1:09:02 and Job also we saw he was a righteous man. Job 1 verse 1 itself the Lord says he was a man who feared God and um avoided evil. He was the most upright man. And 1:09:20 he threw a challenge to Satan. But still God wanted to take him higher. He had so much of selfrighteousness in him that he keeps on boasting about it to his friends. I did this to the 1:09:37 widows. I did that to the orphans. I was eyes to the blind. I was help to the helpless and the weak and so on and so forth. God was happy with all that. True. But still God wanted to take him 1:09:53 higher so that he came to a place where he could ultimately towards the end of his life. You could say, "Lord, I have known you by the hearing of the year. 1:10:10 Now my eyes see you and I retract all that I spoke. I'm sorry. I'm only dust and ashes before you. When he came to that place, then the 1:10:27 Lord turned his misfortune and blessed him with a blessing of the Lord that made him richer than what he was before both materially, physically and spiritually. Then he says, "Now my 1:10:44 eyes see you." And that is the point the Lord wants all of us to come to. And with that purpose in view, the Lord deals with us. And uh my dear brothers and sisters, 1:11:04 when God deals with us, let us not grumble or complain or whine and stop God's hands from dealing with us. Otherwise, we will not 1:11:22 become what God wants us to become. We will remain like this. Like to use an earthly illustration, remain in the same class year after year after year. Probably always getting the first rank 1:11:41 in the first standard for the rest of our life. What's the use? The Lord wants us to take higher. The Lord wants us to teach more. The Lord wants us to know him more. And we saw 1:11:59 that verse last week. Those who know the Lord, they will be strong and do exploits for the Lord. And this is what happened to all these characters that we looked at today. Even Daniel, 1:12:18 you see the end of his life, heard not one king but five kings. All of them had confidence in him. in his righteousness, uprightness, in his wisdom. Wisdom not only to solve earthly 1:12:33 problems, wisdom even to decipher, to tell the meaning of complex dreams. And in one of the dreams, Nebuchadnezzar never told the wise men his dreams, but he told them to tell the dream as well 1:12:52 as its interpretation. How tricky it is. At least if he had told his dreams, they would have given some interpretation of it. But he said, "I will not tell the dream. You tell me the dream what I dreamt and 1:13:11 you give me the interpretation." None of them were able to do that. Only Daniel took some time to pray along with his friends and then sought God and God revealed it to him. And not only God revealed dreams like this, God also gave him 1:13:30 future revelation about what's going to happen in the future. So he wrote about that also future prophecy which is yet to be fulfilled. Even the prophecy as to when Jesus will appear on this earth about 1:13:48 that also he prophesied exactly. And then it happened. And then thereafter whatever is going to happen is yet to happen. That and the book of revelation you study together you see how closely 1:14:06 they they are knit together. So may the Lord deal with us, each one of us in such a way that we will allow him to deal with us as he desires to break us 1:14:25 like we sing in that song to break us, to melt us, to mold us, and to fill us and to use us as vessels. He intends us to be. May the Lord bless these words. Shall we bow our 1:14:44 heads in prayer? Dear Lord, we have held your hand, stopped you here, stopped you there because we felt it was too much for us to bear. But your word says that you 1:15:02 will not test us beyond our ability, but you will make a way of escape. You will give us grace so that we may come through pure and refined 1:15:19 and be more blessed. Lord Jesus, we pray that you will work in each one of us. continue the work that you have started until your will and your purpose is accomplished. Dear father, thank you. Thank you that you are our father. You 1:15:38 are our good father. You always desire the very best for your children. We surrender our lives to you, trusting in your faithfulness, in your goodness and in your love and in your mercy and grace. 1:15:56 Thank you. Bless these words to our hearts and may we live life that pleases you, dear Lord, putting the enemy under our feet in every situation. Thank you and bless you in Jesus name. Amen. 1:16:15 Now we'll sing a song and then we'll you'll share. John will share. [Music] 1:17:07 We'll sing the song. Purify my heart. [Music] [Music] Purify 1:17:30 my heart. Let me be as gold and preious silver, purify my heart. 1:17:45 Let me be as gold, pure gold, red fire. [Music] 1:18:00 My heart's one desire is to be holy. Set aart for you, Lord. 1:18:18 I choose to be holy, set apart for you, my master, ready to do your will. 1:18:38 [Music] Purify my heart. Cleanse me from within [Music] and make me holy. Purify 1:18:57 [Music] my heart. Cleanse me from my sin. Deep within riers fire. My heart's one desire 1:19:21 is to be holy, set aart for you, Lord. I choose to be holy, 1:19:42 set aart for you, my master, ready to do your will. Ready to do your will. 1:20:00 [Music] Praise the Lord for what we heard. 1:20:26 It's very important that word uh God God's dealing and we heard about God dealt with Moses, Job, Daniel, Jacob. 1:20:45 They are privileged. They're really privileged. God has given us scripture all these examples that uh we understand what's God's heart is. 1:21:03 God says in the 1 Samuel 16:7 maybe it says God doesn't see as man sees because God doesn't look at outward appearance God looks at the heart. See like brother was mentioning that I 1:21:21 keep enter the school and I'm in the first standard I remain in the first standard because I don't get pass because there is a heart's attitude in me that I don't love the truth so as to 1:21:41 be saved for such people it's like Christian life is a battle if I don't fight. If I don't fight, there's more chances that I lose the fight. If I keep fighting, 1:21:59 I may be pinned down many times, but I'll be victor. The Lord will help me. And uh when when the Lord sees that I'm a fighter, not in a earthly way, I'm saying spiritually like if I'm broken and contrite and there is a verse Paul 1:22:18 writes that they certain people did not love the truth so as to be saved. So God allowed a deluding spirit on them. They don't want to fight. They want to fight with others. They don't want to fight against their own sin, their own 1:22:37 corruption, their own heart. What happens? God stops dealing with such people. Why are we here? So many of us, why are we not in the world? There are 99% of the population in Bangalore. 1:22:56 God is not dealing with them. And those who have come to the honesty as Jeremiah 3:13 says only acknowledge your sin love the truth so as to be saved be 1:23:13 honest acknowledge and that is the way we entered and we were brought to conviction of our sin and brought to repentance out of his kindness and the Lord started started dealing with each of us. That's the reason we 1:23:32 are sitting here. We are we have realized that we are corrupt. We have realiz realized that we cannot help ourselves and we have thrown ourselves in the hands of God for him to deal with us. God dealing with a man is 1:23:51 a great privilege. We would like to read a verse in what Jesus told in Luke 5 verse 31. Jesus answered and said to them, "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are 1:24:09 sick, those who are realized they are sick needs a physician, a doctor." Verse 32, I have not come to call righteous men but sinners to repentance. That means 1:24:27 very few people are going to acknowledge that Lord I am a sinner. I'm not okay. Something is wrong with me. All the while like we heard last week also about Lord's dealing with many like even Job in the 1:24:45 beginning he was so righteous upright where God could point him to Satan but that was the beginning but God wanted to deal with that a godly man who feared God feared to do any evil wanted to walk 1:25:03 uprightly but God said I will refine that person I want to make him pure and purer witness better witness but here most of the people are going to say I am righteous that means nobody's righteous but the 1:25:23 one who thinks is okay brother how are you okay I am fine I'm fine I'm fine then the Lord says I'm sorry I can't deal with you I can't work with See we all like God to be grandfather. 1:25:43 Grandparents they forego everything. They have too much love to cover everything and like somebody said they pat on their back and send them to hell. And that's that's what we our picture of 1:26:01 God is. We want God to be grandfather but God wants to be a father. Like uh I remember brother Zach saying like this uh when in my young Christian age I used to say uh that God loves me 1:26:18 because Jesus died for my sins. But over the time as I matured like we heard from Romans sorry Hebrews 12 and he disciplines me. That's how I know he loves me. That means the other word is he deals with me. He doesn't let me go 1:26:38 in my condition. I I want to be uh right with God. I want to overcome. But God in his mercy comes close to me, wants to deal with me. That's the greatest privilege. That's the mark of 1:26:56 God's love. If God gives up on me, maybe I will turn to Romans chapter 1 verse 21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their 1:27:14 speculation and their foolish hearts were darkened. Do you think it doesn't happen to us? It happens to me. I have a fear. Lord, my heart can be darkened. It it's very close to our heart. Only thing if I am not honest, if I don't 1:27:31 love the truth about myself so as to be saved, I try to cover up. I I think you know no, I'm okay. Okay, fine. Fine. No, I'm not that bad. That's enough. A step is next. Professing to be wise, they become fools. 1:27:49 I think I am okay and I become fool in the sight of God. That's what happened. So at verse 24 we read God God gave them over and verse 26 God gave them over. Verse 28 God gave 1:28:06 them over. Why? God God stops dealing. Forget about salvation. God God stops dealing with certain people. Jesus was so compassionate, loving toward Judas. He was in the best church. I can be in best church listening to best messages, 1:28:24 but I am not better than Judas. But I want to do what Judas didn't do. I want to love the truth so as to be saved about myself. I want to be honest with God, not trying to convey to people what I am. I want to be humble before people 1:28:43 reputation. No, God must endorse my life that I am humble. We read about all these examples that they God dealt with them because they dealt with God. That means they throw themselves open to God. 1:29:00 2 Thessalonians 2 with which I just read that verse 2 10 and 11. So all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not 1:29:20 receive the love of the truth so as to be saved and this reason God will send them upon a deluding influence. You know that that's the blindness. When God talks about blindness, the spiritual blindness or in other words losing 1:29:36 sensitivity to God. If if I have a desire because body fights body fights against insensitivity. Body wants to be sensitive. All the nervous system works and everything works to be sensitive. 1:29:55 So that's how it works. That's why we are a body. We come together here. We get light. When I have fellowship with another brother, I get light on myself and uh I see that oh I I I have a need and that I go before God and God will 1:30:09 help me and sensit sensitivity is restored. That's that's the reason we come for fellowship. That's why we read scriptures. Um it's good brothers and sisters that we understand what is repentance. I was going through many 1:30:24 many messages last one week about word repentance that blessed my heart and challenged my heart and to get a proper understanding of repentance it's very important we assume that we are repented no we not changed our mind 1:30:43 2 Corinthians 5:17 we love to quote that all the old things have gone and new things have come what is that is that insensitivity is gone and sensitivity to sin has come and do I I'm very sensitive to my wife's problem mistakes and children's mistakes and 1:31:02 others mistakes am I so sensitive to those things and forgot about my own lack then I have become insensitive God will not deal with me I have to go before God and say that Lord I want you to deal with me I I really need it 1:31:20 otherwise I deceive myself you know more than the the dangerous thing is more than any kind of deception selfdeception is the most dangerous one which I think I am okay when I am not okay like Brazak said the dangerous condition is somebody thinks is born 1:31:39 again when he's not born again that's what Satan is trying to do in this world today and that that's the reason that's what Jesus was saying that I did not come for the righteous who are the righteous the one who thinks They are 1:31:52 okay. They are not all in the world. God is not dealing with them. God cannot deal with them until they come to a point and say, "Lord, I have some problem with me. Will you please take this case?" But Jesus said, "I have come only those 1:32:07 who come with humble and broken contrite heart." That's what Isaiah 57:15 says. He is there in our midst with those who humble and contrite in their heart and 1:32:23 he wants to revive them only such people that's why Jesus about Jesus it says I think in John 2 verse 23 maybe it says that many came and believed in him uh because he they saw miracle something I get something I get but Jesus did not 1:32:41 interest himself just because I come and sit in this church it doesn't uh everything doesn't happen automatically. No, I have to have a heart. Lord, I have come here with a purpose. I want to be right with you. I want you to deal with 1:32:56 me. Please help me know the truth of repentance. What repentance means so that I can be right with you. May the Lord help us. Yeah. Let's have announcements. Presenting 1:33:32 the book of this month, Know Your Enemy by Brother Zack Punan. [Music] Young people are the target of Satan's attacks in these days. Satan is going 1:33:50 all out to ensure that today's young people are polluted by impurity, bitterness, [Music] jealousy, selfish ambition and materialism. 1:34:15 And if not by any of these, then at least by pride, [Music] self-righteousness, [Music] and hypocrisy. [Music] There is a crucial need for Christians, 1:34:34 especially young people, to understand Satan, their spiritual adversary. We need to know Satan's origin as the perfect angel Lucifer who fell due to pride and rebellion against God. [Music] 1:34:53 And we need to know Satan's deceptive tactics [Music] such as questioning God's word, appealing to fleshly desires, and showing the allure of worldly things. As seen in his temptation of Eve, 1:35:17 God permits Satan's existence because it serves purposes like testing believers and prompting people to turn to God in adversity. [Music] Satan currently operates on earth and in the second heaven, 1:35:35 not in hell. and he's actively seeking to deceive and destroy. We can overcome Satan by knowing and applying God's word, resisting him in the name of Jesus, and maintaining a pure life. 1:35:53 We should not be ignorant of Satan's schemes and should rely on God's protection. Satan was defeated on Calvary decisively 1:36:13 by our Lord Jesus and was stripped of his power. [Music] Our calling now is to register that victory over the forces of darkness 1:36:30 everywhere we go. May this book help you to attain victory through Christ over your enemy. You can read this book free online at cfcindia.com/books/now your enemy. 1:36:56 [Music] [Music]
